A Secret Place

Washington followed two 1975 Top 10 pop albums with this tasty set of crossover jazz. There are only four extended tracks here: three upbeat funk numbers and a superb ballad reading of Herbie Hancock's "Dolphin Dance," which shows what a gifted post-bop musician Washington was (which is something both his detractors and fans sometimes forget). During the 1970s, he really knew how to balance quality and a kind of penthouse Jacuzzi party jazz. And who wouldn't want to attend a penthouse Jacuzzi jazz party? Grover Washington ruled.